Google warns: the end of cookies nor will it create an alternative for individual tracking
Google is determined to turn the page of third-party cookies. For several years they have been defending its elimination to gradually bet on FLoC ('Federated Learning of Cohorts'), their alternative to cookies that "protects" privacy by being based on the interests of groups of people instead of those of the specific user.
It is not Google's only proposal to abandon cookies, but what does seem clear is that the company does not plan to repeat the method. David Temkin, director of product management and privacy in advertising, has said, explicitly, that “once third-party cookies disappear, we will not create alternative identifiers to track users who browse the network, nor will we use them in our products ”.
Google wants to change the current mechanism of the important advertising business
According to data managed by Google itself, 72% of users are convinced that everything they do online is being tracktracking vertisers and 81% consider that the privacy risks outweigh the benefits of obtaining advertising that might interest us.
Google works in a Privacy Sandbox where they are looking for alternatives to replace these third-party cookies with another mechanism that is capable of maintaining the anonymity of users. From the company they continue to insist on this change of discourse, where they warn that they will no longer be able to offer user-level identifiers for advertising tracking
The reasons for this our strategy are twofold, although closely related. On the one hand, they point to the growing consumer demand for privacy, but then they also recognize the importance of the "rapid evolution of regulatory restrictions, which is why they are not a sustainable investment in the long term." After a series of millionaire fines, Google is working on completely reorienting its business to avoid future sanctions.
In this dilemma of ending web crawling but at the same time maintaining the option of personalized ads is where Google is. The latest FloC tests show that they are capable of removing cookies and achieving up to 95% effectiveness.
Starting this March, with the arrival of Chrome 89, Google will launch its cookie alternative project, hoping to start offering it to Google Ads advertisers in the second quarter.
At stake is a business worth billions of euros. Cookies have been used for years for Google to generate a huge amount of money. Now, after regulatory pressure, the company is accelerating for this alternative and ensures that there is no going back. Along the way they will have to convince again the thousands of advertisers who have already become accustomed to cookies.
